A bear got through the electric fence in one of the apiaries and wiped out four hives. There was one hive remaining, lying on its side. As soon as I stood it upright, hundreds of angry bees poured out and were trying to sting everything they could - my camera, gloves, bee suit, hive tools, etc. I had to walk away from the area for a good half hour before I could return and deal with the damage.

Instead of keeping the second location, I decided to move the remaining hive to the other apiary (in the Goldenrod field) with the other hives. The fence posts can be re-used, my plan is to set up a second electric fence around the existing inner electric fence and run barbed wire instead of smooth wire. My guess is the bear’s fur is too think for the smooth wire to give it a jolt.

That makes 11 hives damaged by bears in the last year.